History - University of Rochester

From 1861 to 1931 the main campus of the University of Rochester was located at Prince Street, with a few buildings on University Avenue. College Avenue formed its northeastern boundary. Founded in 1850, UR spent its first years in temporary quarters at the United States Hotel on Buffalo Street, today West Main Street. (Note: this building still stands.) UR finally found a permanent home on Prince Street with Anderson Hall, completed in 1861 and named for UR's first president, Martin Brewer Anderson. Sibley Hall was built next. It was completed in 1877 as Rochester's first fireproof building, thanks to the airspace between the outer limestone walls and the inner brick walls. It was named for Hiram Sibley, founder of Western Union Telegraph. Over the years, other buildings included Reynolds Hall, Cutler Union, and a dormitory for Eastman students.

Women were finally admitted to the University in 1900, thanks to a campaign led by Susan B. Anthony. Rush Rhees was also named University President at this time and later stated that he would not have accepted the position had he known that UR would be a coed institution. Rhees was a strong believer in the coordinate college system, where the sexes could be educated separately. This was finally achieved in 1930 with the completion of the River Campus, constructed as the final part of a massive expansion project spearheaded by President Rhees and George Eastman, which also included the founding and construction of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Rochester Medical Center. The River Campus became the College for Men, while the female students remained on Prince Street, now the campus of the College for Women. This arrangement continued until 1955, when the costs of running two campuses proved too burdensome. The women joined the men on the River Campus and the buildings on Prince Street were sold off.

Today, only the Memorial Art Gallery is left, along with Cutler Union, now attached to the MAG via a 1968 addition. Anderson Hall is now the home of the Red Cross, while the School of the Arts occupies the old Eastman dorm. Sibley Hall, alas, was demolished in the 1960s.